It is a special honour to welcome the Central American and Caribbean Amateur Swimming Confederation Championships (CCCAN) to Trinidad and Tobago.

It is a special honour to welcome the Central American and Caribbean Amateur Swimming Confederation Championships (CCCAN) to Trinidad and Tobago.

On behalf of the Sport Company of Trinidad and Tobago (SporTT), I salute the achievement of the Amateur Swimming Association of Trinidad and Tobago (ASATT) in bringing the Championships to our shores for the very time in the CCCAN’s 70-year history. SporTT pledges its continued support to ASATT in ensuring the success of this historic opportunity and its commitment to the further development of aquatic sports.

We take special pride in the National Aquatic Centre which makes its international debut as the CCCAN venue from June 22nd to July 2nd. Thanks to the Centre’s expansive, state-of-the art facilities, CCCAN will have the historic opportunity to stage almost all its competitions at the same venue. Swimming, water polo, synchronized swimming, and diving will be held at the Couva facility while open water swimming will be held at Turtle Beach in Tobago.

This is precisely the kind of significant and multi-faceted event for which the National Aquatic Centre was built and which presumably gave a winning edge to the ASATT’s successful bid to host CCCAN 2017.

With elite aquatic athletes and media from throughout Central America and Caribbean expected at the 11-day event, the championships provide Trinidad and Tobago with a prime opportunity for showcasing the National Aquatic Centre to a global audience while positioning it as a world-class top-tier venue for competitive swimming and training.

All the elements are in place to ensure the success of the Centre’s first major event.

The Government, through the Sport Company of Trinidad and Tobago (SporTT), has provided the requisite financial, logistical and technical support to ASATT as the official host of the Championships. With thousands of athletes, coaches, supporters, photographers and reporters expected to come from all across Central America and the Caribbean, efficient and effective management is an imperative for ensuring a quality experience for all. We believe that CCCAN will find in the National Aquatic Centre everything it needs for making T&T its home base.

We also extend an open invitation to the people of Trinidad and Tobago to attend and cheer on the athletes at all the events at the National Aquatic Centre in Couva and at Turtle Beach in Tobago. The high quality of both the facilities and the world class swimming talent, including from T&T, will make CCCAN2017 an amazing, unforgettable experience. We encourage everyone to come and be part of this historic national initiative to make Trinidad and Tobago one of the world’s premier destinations for competitive swimming and other aquatic sports.

The National Aquatic Centre is an investment on behalf of the people of Trinidad and Tobago. Its aim is both to support and promote the development of aquatic sports and to diversify the economy through building and strengthening the sports economy. CCCAN 2017 is a major step towards achieving these goals.

We welcome our Caribbean neighbours, our Central American friends, and other guests from around the world and urge them to explore the best of what we have to offer in our unique cuisine, culture, activities, sights and, of course, our warm and wonderful people.

To our own #TeamTTO, best of luck in what promises to be an exciting, record-breaking, memorable #CCCAN2017.